Toy phonograph

ABSTRACT

A toy phonograph wherein a record is rotated manually which has its sound track on the underside thereof, and a needle block is slidably mounted on a vibrant sheet of material which has an upwardly facing needle thereon for cooperation with the sound track.

United States Patent 1111 3,610,637

1 Inventors BeniaminKinbers 1,251,918 111918 Pratley 274/9 425Riversidemive-NWYorkrN-Y- 1,979,067 110/1968 Franklin 274/1 .1) 10027; 2,580,071 12 1951 Bunyard 274 9 Richard-LMayen34M9untVr9m 2,976,049 3 1961 Ronci 274 16 Bloomfield/Ni 3,450,239 6 1969 Ryan..... 274/1 .1)x 1 PP 846547 3,055,664 9 1962 Curci 274/9x Filed J y- 2,619,931 12 1952 Mueller 274 17x 45 P t t d 0ct.5 1971 l 1 3 en 6 1 Primary Examiner-Leonard Forman m Assistant Examiner-Dennis A. Dearing [54] TOY PHONOGRAPH Att0rney--Charles J. Worth s0 FieldoiSearch 274 1.1,9,

ABSTRACT: A toy phonograph wherein a record is rotated manually which has its sound track on the underside thereof,

[56] References cued and a needle block is slidably mounted on a vibrant sheet of UNITED STATES PATENTS material which has an upwardly facing needle thereon for 1,17 8,840 4/1916 Cassard 274/9 cooperation with the sound track PATENIEDncI 5|97| 3610.637

INVENTORS BE NJAMIN KIN IE TOY PI-IONOGRAPH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to sound-reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a toy phonograph which is an improvement over the toy phonograph disclosed in our copending U.S. Pat. application, Ser. No. 840,142, filed July 7, 1969.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an improved toy phonograph which is simple and sturdy in construction and is reliable in operation.

Another object is to provide such a toy phonograph which is substantially flat and relatively thin.

Another object is to provide such a toy phonograph which has utility as a greeting card as well as a play toy.

Another object is to provide such a toy phonograph wherein the record is provided with means for turning the same easily and at a uniform speed.

Another object is to provide such a toy phonograph which has good fidelity and loudness.

A further object is to provide such a toy phonograph which can be fabricated in a practical and economical manner.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects are generally accomplished by providing a toy phonograph which comprises a sheet of vibrant material acting as a base and as a sound-reproducing diaphragm, a phonograph record having its sound track on the underside thereof, means for rotatably mounting the record on the top of the base, a slidable needle block on the base having an upwardly facing needle thereon for cooperating with the soundtrack, and means on the base for guiding the needle block in a generally radial direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a toy phonograph in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. I but with the record removed from the base.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4-4 on FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing in detail, a toy phonograph is shown which generally comprises a rectangular base 10, a disk-shaped phonograph record 11, means 12 for rotatably mounting the record on the base, and a needle block 14 slidable on the base.

The base is constructed of a sheet of relatively stiff vibrant material which acts as both the base and a soundreproducing diaphragm. A material suitable for such purposes is corrugated board (FIG. 4) preferably of the finely corrugated or fluted type known in the trade as having an *E" fluting 15 at the interior. Such board has good fidelity and loudness. The edges of the base are provided with trimming 16 to conceal the fluting.

The record 11 has a central aperture 17 and has a soundtrack 18 on its underside. Since the soundtrack grooves are on the reverse side and the record is turned clockwise the record is cut backwards. The top of the record is provided with a pair of raised concentric circular portions 19 and 20 which are spaced apart a sufficient distance to allow a finger to be inserted therebetween to contact the record. These portions make it easy to turn the record at a uniform speed because the finger is maintained in the same radial position at all times.

The raised portions preferably are molded integral with the record.

The means 12 for rotatably mounting the record 11 include a flanged cylindrical member 21 such as an eyelet (FIG. 3) which extends upwardly through the aperture 17 and is secured to the base as described hereinafter. A slightly yieldable washer 22 is frictionally secured to the upper portion of the member 21 to hold down the record. The means 12 further include an annular platform 24 secured to the base 10 for supporting the record at or near its peripheral edge. The platform has a sufficient thickness to space the record a distance from the base 10 to allow the needle block 14 to slide between the base and the record.

The needle block 14 has two parallel sides and has an upwardly facing needle 25 thereon which extends into the grooves of the sound track 18 to vibrate the block and then transmit such vibrations to the sound-reproducing diaphragm 10. The needle may be cast integral with the block.

The needle block 14 is slidably retained in a radially extend ing guideway 26 provided by a short section 27 and a long section 28 secured to the base 10 and having parallel sides facing each other. The long section 28 extends to the center of the platform 24 and has an enlarged portion 29 formed with an aperture 30 through which the flanged member 21 extends. The portion 29 overlies the flange of the member 21 and, by reason of being secured to the base, serves to secure the member 21 to the base.

The platform 24 and the sections 27 and 28 may be stamped from a single sheet of material. Preferably, the platform and the sections are narrow so as not to materially impede the vibrancy of the diaphragm section of the "base 10.

A return spring 31 is provided for urging the needle block 14 radially outwardly. One end of this spring is attached to the needle block and the other end is secured under the enlarged central portion 29. After the record has been played, the spring is rendered effective to return the needle block to its outer position by flexing the base 10 whereby the needle is positioned at the beginning of the record for replay thereof.

SUMMATION From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved phonograph which has many useful applications including but not limited to a play toy and an adjunct to a greeting card.

We claim:

1. A flat thin toy phonograph comprising a sheet of vibrant material acting both as a base and as a sound-reproducing diaphragm, a phonograph record having a soundtrack on one surface thereof, means for rotatably mounting said record on said base with said soundtrack facing said base, a flat needle block slidably resting on said base and having an upwardly facing needle for cooperating with said soundtrack, spacing means on said base for spacing said record from said base a distance to provide contact between said soundtrack and said needle, guiding means within the space between said record and said base for guiding said needle block in a generally radial direction, and a return spring for said needle block, said spacing means including a platform secured to said base, said guiding means being part of said platform, and said return spring having one end attached to said needle block and having the other end secured to said base.

2. A toy phonograph according to claim 1, wherein said means for rotatably mounting said record include a cylindrical member having a flange resting against said base, and said needle'block-guiding means include a pair of strip sections one of which overlays said flange and secures said member to said base.

3. A toy phonograph according to claim 1, where said sheet is formed of finely corrugated board.

4. A toy phonograph according to claim 1, wherein said record has a plurality of concentric spaced annular portions on the top thereof for facilitating rotation of said record. 

1. A flat thin toy phonograph comprising a sheet of vibrant material acting both as a base and as a sound-reproducing diaphragm, a phonograph record having a soundtrack on one surface thereof, means for rotatably mounting said record on said base with said soundtrack facing said base, a flat needle block slidably resting on said base and having an upwardly facing needle for cooperating with said soundtrack, spacing means on said base for spacing said record from said base a distance to provide contact between said soundtrack and said needle, guiding means within the space between said record and said base for guiding said needle block in a generally radial direction, and a return spring for said needle block, said spacing means including a platform secured to said base, said guiding means being part of said platform, and said return spring having one end attached to said needle block and having the other end secured to said base.
 2. A toy phonograph according to claim 1, wherein said means for rotatably mounting said record include a cylindricAl member having a flange resting against said base, and said needle-block-guiding means include a pair of strip sections one of which overlays said flange and secures said member to said base.
 3. A toy phonograph according to claim 1, where said sheet is formed of finely corrugated board.
 4. A toy phonograph according to claim 1, wherein said record has a plurality of concentric spaced annular portions on the top thereof for facilitating rotation of said record. 